The Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Jaber, said that the Middle East and North Africa region has the resources and vision to unlock huge economic potential because the world is still focused on the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Dr. Al Jaber, Managing Director and Group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Petroleum Corporation, said: The energy transition to a low-carbon future is a huge economic opportunity, and we must seize it with all possible levers. He said this at a ministerial dialogue on Mena's clean energy transition and economic resilience organized by the International Energy Agency and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Oman. He said that with the world's transition to energy, the region has plenty of sunlight, high-speed wind and oil, and "oil will still be needed in the next few decades."

"These natural attributes of traditional energy and renewable energy constitute the main competitive advantage of our region. This is an advantage that we must use together." Dr. Jaber added. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the need to build a stronger and greener economy globally has become the focus of attention. Countries are investing heavily to meet the energy needs of renewable energy, and are promoting the development of new technologies to reduce emissions in order to fulfill their obligations under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

In the Mena region, several countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Oman have developed renewable energy projects to increase their power generation capacity. Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar has played a role in many projects. play a key role in. The UAE is OPEC's third largest oil producer. It hopes to increase the share of clean energy to 44% by 2050 and plans to invest 600 billion dirhams ($163 billion) by 2050 to expand its renewable energy production capacity. .

Abu Dhabi accounts for a large portion of the UAE’s oil production, and it is also developing more renewable energy projects. The UAE is building a solar power plant with a total installed capacity of 2 gigawatts in Al Dafra, which is part of the UAE’s efforts to increase the proportion of clean energy in the energy mix. Dubai is building the world's largest solar park to reduce dependence on natural gas and achieve energy diversification. The Mohamed Bin Rashid Solar Park is expected to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity by 2030, which is expected to drive 50 billion U.S. dollars in investment.

Dr. Jaber said that despite new projects, the total installed capacity of renewable energy in the region only accounts for 1% of the world's total renewable energy, "this means there is still huge room for growth." He added that the Mena region is also fully capable of using promising new low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources, such as blue hydrogen and green hydrogen. The UAE is working hard to position itself as a hydrogen export center and further tap the growth potential of clean fuels as part of its entry into the emerging hydrogen economy.

In January 2021, Adnoc, Mubadala and ADQ formed an alliance to develop the hydrogen economy in the UAE, with a focus on low-carbon green and blue hydrogen as part of the country's continued energy diversification efforts. Last month, Adnoc sold a batch of blue ammonia to the Japanese company Inpex. Dr. Jaber said: Although the global hydrogen market is still at a very early stage, our region is fully capable of leading it.

Keywords: new energy, overseas engineering, international engineering construction, foreign engineering construction news

The UAE has expressed its willingness to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023. We will make full use of this platform. Strengthening progressive climate action can create lasting economic prosperity for our region and surrounding areas.Editor/XuNing